We Are
by StarsAndSparks44
Summary: We are a lazy deer, a stuck-up pig and an overweight butterfly. We are team ten. We are family.
1. We Are: Annoyance

We Are

Summary: We are a lazy deer, a stuck-up pig and an overweight butterfly. We are team ten. We are family.

Author's Note: Well, after such a long time of not writing, I finally got an inspiration! I'm not exactly sure what it was, but it's the work that counts ;P. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this fic, and hopefully my writing skills haven't gone down the drain.

Btw, I don't own Naruto. Stop asking!

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Chapter 1:

When I was 4 years old and daddy first introduced me to my future teammates/ friends/brothers, I wasn't quite sure what he was getting at.

Back then, the only times we went to the meadow together was to pick flowers for the shop, which we'd been doing much more often, since mom had fallen ill. I was prepared for sticky sap and prickling thorns – not for two boys, one with crazy circles on his cheeks and one with hair like a pineapple.

"Daddy, who are they and why are they in the meadow?" I demanded, glaring at the boys through confused eyes. The meadow was our secret spot. Why were these two weirdos here?

Squiggles looked up, eyes wide as daddy and I approached, while Pineapple Head didn't move, preferring to keep staring up at the sky like it was doing something interesting. I checked myself, lifting my head to stare at the expanse of blue. Nope, still normal, I decided.

"Daddy, why are they in the meadow? Are we here to kick them out?" I asked, feeling excited. I could show him how well I could throw kunai now! But, to my confusion, he'd just shook his head.

"Princess, don't be silly. Shikamaru and Chouji are here because their fathers – you remember Uncle Chouza and Uncle Shikaku, right? – have agreed that you three should finally meet." he explained, before shooing me towards the other two, who were now both watching us with mild interest. Turning around, I opened my mouth to complain, but daddy was already leaving.

"Daddy, don't leave me here alone!" I screeched, stomping my foot and trying to make daddy come back. He didn't. For a few seconds, I stood rooted in place. I was Daddy's Little Princess – he couldn't just _**leave **_me here!

"Uh, hi..." whipping around, I glared at Squiggles, who immediately looked down, bitting his lip. Letting out a huff, I crossed my arms.

"Hi. I'm Ino, and I want to go home." I announced angrily, glaring at the both of them. Squiggles looked down further, but Pineapple Head only stared at me, having managed to sit up slightly.

"Shikamaru, and I want you to go home too. Chouji and I don't want to hang out with some stupid whiny Princess." he said flatly, before lying back down.

Within the next minute and a half Shikamaru was whimpering, I was grinning and holding him down in a headlock, and Chouji was nearly wetting himself in panic. It was the beginning of the years of annoyance that followed.

I've never wanted it another way.

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Well, that's the end of the first chapter :) if you like it, please tell me in a review!

StarsAndSpakrs44


	2. We Are: Idiocy

Well, here's chapter 2. I hope you guys like it :)

Naruto is still not mine.

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Chapter 2:

Sighing, I turned to look at Chouji. Seeing my own worry mirrored in his eyes, I knew that one thought was going through both of our heads: what had that troublesome woman done _**this **_time?

The two of us sat next to each other on the chairs of the hospital waiting room, the air heavy with the silence between us. In my head, I ran over the possible ways that Ino could have gotten herself burned, in the whole-body fashion that the nurse who called us had described.

Had she been in a building fire of any sorts? No, I thought, we would have been told about that. A mission, perhaps? No, Chouji and I had both seen her around all day. I shook my head. Those were two ideas – out of about three hundred and forty-two – that didn't work. Thankfully, I was spared the troublesome task of deciphering Ino's mysterious injury by a nurse who quickly ushured us into the burn unit.

Ino was grinning guiltily when she saw us walk in, and with a sigh of relief I realized that she couldn't be burned too badly. She'd be in tears if there was anything more than minor burns.

After all, bad burns cause scars.

"Hey guys." she greeted us, voice tight with the pain she was obviously trying to hide. Narrowing my eyes, I stared flatly at her. She was bright red all over, as if she'd been out sunbathing, even if it was the middle of February.

"What did you do this time, you troublesome woman?" I sighed, sitting down in one of the chairs next to her bed. Chouji took the other.

"Those burns don't hurt too bad, do they?" Chouji inquired, and Ino shrugged.

"Well, they hurt like hell, but I think I'll be able to get through it, some how!" she proclaimed dramatically, trying to strike a pose (which ended in her gasping in pain as the sheets rubbed against her lobster-red skin). Letting out a sigh, I repeated my question. Ino's face turned even darker red.

"Well, Shika, as you know, it's winter outside, So I can't go to the beach to get ride of my ghostly pale-ness." closing my eyes, I sighed. Please tell me she didn't...reopening my eyes, I glanced at her.

She did.

Letting out a low groan, I slapped my hand to my forehead. I now had a feeling that I knew exactly what she did. Going over the scenario in my head, I sighed. I knew Ino could be dumb, but not _**this **_dumb...

"You overstayed your welcome on the tanning bed, huh?" I asked, not even looking up for the guilty blush, spluttering indignation, and finally the nod of confirmation. We all knew I was right.

Next to me, I listened as Chouji reprimanded Ino for not being comfortable with her body, while Ino fought back that he ought to take better care of himself. Meanwhile I slumped in my chair, wondering if Ino would be able to stand sleeping with two less pillows.

Thanks to her stupidity, Chouji and I would be staying by her bedside the whole night.

Troublesome.

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Well, that's the end of that. Hopefully, if you can still stand it, you'll go onto chapter 3! Oh, and maybe leave a review ;)

StarsAndSpakrs44


	3. We Are: Protection

Well, here's chapter 3....yeah XD. I hope you all like it :)

And I really have to say that I don't own Naruto.

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Chapter 3:

I don't think Shikamaru ever figured it out, but the night of Asuma's funeral, we were there with him.

Judging by the loud, heart-shattering sounds coming from his room – ones that made Ino cry silently and that made my eyes well up with tears – our lazy genius probably didn't notice the two figures sitting against his door. If he did, he never mentioned it.

Turning to Ino, I lifted a hand, wiping away her tears gently. I'd seen Shikamaru do this so many times, when it was just the three of us, cooped up in one of our bedrooms or in Our Meadow, letting out the stresses of the day with the people we knew we could trust completely. Ino looked up, sniffing slightly.

"Looks like Shika took our advice, huh?" she whispered hoarsely, wiping away the rest of her tears herself. I nodded absently, listening to the chocking sobs coming from inside my best friend's room. I felt like both Ino and I should be in there, dealing with everything as a team, like we usually did. But I could tell that this was Shikamaru's time to be alone. He needed to get through this without our help.

"I still can't believe Shikaku actually listened to me, though." Ino laughed as loudly as she dared (which wasn't much above a whisper), and I had to agree. Right before he went to talk to Shikamaru, we'd both practically cornered Shikaku, and told him what he should say to Shikamaru, for him to get through it. I mean come on, 'let it all out'? That's a woman's advice.

It seemed to me that Shikaku finally realized that the three of us know each other better than anyone else does, or claims to.

Leaning back, I felt Ino's hair tickling my shoulder as she settled herself in for a long night, using me as a pillow, just as she did every other time we all spent the night together. Shikamaru was too bony to make a good pillow, or so I'd been told. It didn't really bother me too much at the moment, with the sound of my oldest friend's agony surrounding me.

I just hoped he knew that Ino and I were there to help, to support and to protect him every step of the way.

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I felt so bad for Shikamaru when I was writing this :( but still, I hope that it was an okay chapter. You can tell me personnaly in a review, if you like it or not... ;)

StarsAndSparks44


	4. We Are: Family

Well, here's the final chapter. Not that anyone had to wait, mind you ;P. I hope you've all enjoyed reading this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it!

For the final time today, I. DO. NOT. OWN. NARUTO.

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Chapter 4:

"Shika, I need underwear! Dig out some clean boxers, will ya?"

"Chouji, my troublesome mother is trying to find me. I'm not here, alright?"

"Ino, the power's out at my house. Could I borrow your kitchen?"

Some days, I doubt that family are even this close. I personally don't think Neji would willingly giving up a pair of his boxers for Hinata if she was soaking wet from an 'unfortunate' fall in the lake. Or that Asuma would let Konohamaru have free reign over his kitchen. Or that Kankuro would hide Gaara if someone of the same caliber of a pissed off Temari was after his blood.

Then again, Team Ten's always been a little different.

You see, each team has one trait that sets them apart from the others. Team Seven is the melodramatic-tragedy team. Team Eight is the team of jackets. Team Gai is the dramatic team. But us, Team Ten, team Asuma, team Ino-Shika-Cho or whatever you want to call it, we're the team of family.

We're the team of people who know that if they're stuck, they always have someone to turn to. The team of people who are so beyond understanding each other that we don't even _**try **_to hide anything from each other anymore.

Sometimes I find it funny how people doubt Sakura is my best friend. Most people would think that she comes in a FAR third, when put next to Chouji and Shikamaru. But I know she's my best friend, because Chouji and Shikamaru are my brothers.

We rely and depend on each other so much, some days I wonder what would happen if one of us were to die. For obvious reasons, I try not to. Losing Asuma was bad enough. It was like having a piece of my heart ripped out.

Over time, however, my heart has stitched itself back up, so that at least now I can bear it. But losing Shikamaru or Chouji, that would be like losing an actual body part, like a leg or an arm or an eye. I doubt I'd ever be able to go on another mission.

It's that constant fear that drives us, though. To make sure that Chouji won't lose a worrying amount of weight again. To make sure that I won't shut myself out to the world again. To make sure Shikamaru never has to be in such agony again.

We owe being able to stay alive to the men who made Team Ten happen.

As I said before, we aren't one, unchanging thing. We've been Princess, Squiggles and Pineapple Head, Team Ten, Team Asuma and Team Ino-Shika-Cho.

But, once you get passed all of that, we're fairly simple. We are a lazy deer, a stuck up pig, and an overweight butterfly.

We are love.

THE END

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And so ends another late-night-write! I hope you've all enjoyed my burst of writing, and (if you haven't already) please review, because it means alot to me :)

Bye for now,

StarsAndSparks44


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